The number of tourists that visited Greece in 2024 reached new heights, according to data released by the Bank of Greece, with the Mediterranean country having welcomed 40.7 million foreign visitors, marking a 12.8 percent increase compared to 2023, when 33 million visited Greece.
Attica, the region where Athens is located, hosted the largest number of visitors while the southern Aegean recorded the highest share of total tourism receipts and overnight stays. Personal travel remained the primary reason for the visits, accounting for 93.5 percent of total travel spending in 2024.
The figures also mark an increase in revenues, with Greece collecting 21.7 billion euros ($22.6 billion), up from 20.6 billion euros ($21.5 billion) in 2023.
Tourists from the European Union contributed the most to the rise in revenues in 2024. Receipts from EU visitors totaled 11.9 billion euros ($13.3 billion), representing over half of the year’s tourism revenues. Tourists from Eurozone countries contributed 9.5 billion euros ($10.6 billion) while those from third countries contributed 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion). Revenues from visitors from all parts of the world saw an increase between 4.5 to 18 percent.
Visitors from Germany remained the top source of income in 2024, with receipts reaching 3.7 billion euros ($4.1 billion) while those from the United States saw the greatest increase at 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), up by 15.3 percent. Italy also showed a large increase by 13.6 percent, while receipts from the UK dropped by 4.1 percent. Receipts from France dropped by 11.6 percent while those from Russia fell sharply by over 50 percent.
Number of tourists visiting Greece keeps surging after the pandemic
After a two-year pause during the pandemic when international travel was affected and tourism came to a standstill, Greece has been seeing a steady increase both in the number of tourist arrivals and tourism revenues.
In 2019, the last year before global travel was interrupted due to COVID, Greece recorded revenues of 18.2 billion euros ($19.17 billion) and 31.3 million tourist arrivals. Numbers dropped dramatically in 2020 and 2021 and started to pick up again in 2022, when Greece welcomed 27.84 million international tourists, a 227 percent increase compared to 2020, though still 18 percent less than 2019 (pre-pandemic).
In 2023, Greece made a phenomenal comeback as an international tourism destination and has continued to do so since. The number of tourists that visited the Mediterranean country of 10.3 million in 2023 (33 million) marked a 120 percent increase between 2019 and 2023.
Tourism accounts for over a quarter of Greece’s economic output and nearly two million Greeks’ annual income derives from the sector.
Despite record revenues, retaining the current tourism model is unsustainable according to the country’s ombudsman, and Greece must reform if it is to protect its tourism sector.
In a report published in June 2024—the first on the tourism sector for the Greek Ombudsman since the authority was founded over 25 years ago—the Ombudsman warned of the growing environmental risks, particularly the added strain on water supplies for drinking, swimming pools, and water parks, and called for urgent reform.
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